Vancouver, WA news and local guide

The first permanent European settlement was Fort Vancouver, a Hudson's Bay Company fur post founded in 1824. The United States and Britain shared the region until the Oregon Treaty of June 15, 1846, gave the United States full control. Before 1845 the American Henry Williamson laid out a claim called Vancouver City west of the company's post and registered it at Oregon City, and in 1848 he had it surveyed and platted. In 1850 Amos Short laid claim over Williamson's and named the town Columbia City, which became Vancouver in 1855. The City of Vancouver was incorporated on January 23, 1857. An act of the 1859 to 1860 territorial legislature briefly made Vancouver the capital of Washington Territory, but the territorial supreme court, by a 2 to 1 ruling, returned the capital to Olympia, in line with the wishes of Isaac Stevens, who worried that a capital near the Oregon line would give Oregon too much influence. Sources Wikipedia: Vancouver, Washington